Sushi Lover Pulls 5-Foot Tapeworm From His Own Body

CBS Local — A Fresno man’s skin-crawling trip to the emergency room may make some people stop eating sushi for a while.

According to the man’s doctor, the self-proclaimed sushi lover pulled a massive tapeworm from his own body before arriving for treatment.

(Note: Some may find images below disturbing.)

Dr. Kenny Bahn of Community Regional Medical Center told the horrifying story on a recent edition of the podcast “This Won’t Hurt A Bit,” where he showed the nauseating photos of a 5-foot-6-inch tapeworm his patient brought to the ER wrapped around a paper towel roll.

“He grabs it, and he pulls on it, and it keeps coming out. He picks it up and looks at it. And what does it do? It starts moving,” Dr. Bahn said, via WNEM.

Bahn adds that the young man arrived at Community Regional and immediately asked to be treated for tapeworms. The doctor was skeptical until his patient revealed the giant parasite. The tapeworm reportedly began to leave the man’s body while he was sitting on the toilet. Shocked by the terrifying scene, Bahn says the man kept pulling until the invader was all the way out.

The trouble is believed to be linked to the patient’s love of eating salmon sushi.

“He says, ‘I eat raw salmon almost every day,’” Bahn told The Fresno Bee. According to a 2017 warning from the CDC, Japanese broad tapeworm larvae have been found in many Pacific-caught salmon. Tapeworms are reportedly found in many types of fish that are not properly flash frozen. Hearing the news, Dr. Bahn’s patient said he would be swearing off of the raw treat for good.